


Witnessing Multi-Lingual Multi-Tasking

by aprill99



Series: Overheard Conversations [8]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Multiple Languages, Papa Lance, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 13:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6707032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aprill99/pseuds/aprill99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Quentin Lance had known Oliver Queen as a high school screw off who had failed Spanish. That boy would never have wanted, or even been able to, learn languages like French, Russian, or Mandarin. And yet, when he goes to drop off information with Oliver and Felicity the Queen kid seems to be able to handle all of them with ease.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Witnessing Multi-Lingual Multi-Tasking

Never let it be said that the members of Team Arrow didn't know how to multi-task.

Lance had generally noted that Oliver maneuvered jobs. He did it with quick and sometimes brutal efficiency that would rival a battleship admiral.

In fact, it was an ability that Lance had noticed that Oliver had even as a young child. He had been an energetic boy who bounced from task to task and off of the walls and ceilings like a super powered bouncy ball doing an imitation of the Energizer Bunny. When Thea had come along when Oliver had turned ten he had alternated between speeding up to give her something to chase, and slowing down to let her catch up.

Those moments of slow down had been some of the most truthful moments Lance had seen in Oliver's young life. They had showed that he wasn't just a rich little boy. He was a kid who loved his sister.

Oliver had been the kind of kid who could dribble a soccer ball, carry a full conversation, and learn to whistle all at once. In fact that particular example wasn't even one Lance was using for an example to prove a point. It was an observation he had made after one particularly interesting little league practice at the same park as one of Laurel's early softball games.

Queen's teachers had simply called it attention issues. None of them had gone so far as to call it ADHD. They had merely recommended more sporting activities, less sugary soda, and time to grow up and out of being a kid.

Personally, Lance thought that Oliver's slightly hyperactive abilities to alternate between jobs had come from having parents who just didn't have very much time for little moments and small things. Thea had begun to realize it just before Oliver had disappeared and been presumed dead on Lian Yu. Oliver had figured it out many years pre-Island. When your parents didn't have time to listen or see the little things you did then it became necessary to do them all at once in the milliseconds you had their attention for.

When Oliver had become a teenager Lane had noted a remarkable shift in that ability to multi-task from a boyish enthusiastic charm to darker, more scummy side. Playing soccer while you hummed was remarkably sweeter than possessing the mental capacity it took to date two girls at once without telling one about the other and still maintain a third to bring home for family dines and hang on your arm for public functions. Not that Oliver had seemed to care much if each of the girls he dated knew about each other.

Lance had on several occasions contemplated using his pull with the law to make Queen's life a little more difficult. Given that at least one out of the general three in the rotation tended to be one of his daughter's he was pretty sure he would have been justified. Not that either one of those daughters would be willing to speak to him for at least a week had he ever acted on those impulses.

When Oliver had returned from the island Lance had noticed that the once hectic energy Queen had possessed had stilled and quieted. In a way it seemed to have settled in to something equally as changeable and infinitely more dangerous than it ever had been before. Instead of a scattered kid, Oliver now seemed to be able to focus in on things like a laser.

That didn't mean he couldn't shift his focus though.

If finding out that Oliver was in fact the vigilante the Arrow had proved anything, it was that his ability to do about eight things at once was still alive and flourishing. For a while, Lance was fairly sure Oliver had actually had about three different jobs. Two night jobs and a day job. All of which could be seen as full time and slightly shady to a normal person.

Lance's own daughters had been rather their own little masters of multi-tasking from a young age. Laurel had been the kind of little girl who could prep for a math test and learn the words for her spelling quiz while jump roping. In high school, college, and law school Laurel had proved that she could work and study simultaneously. She had been head of the honors society and student body president as well as part of the swim team.

Sara's propensity to do many things at once had often resulted in huge half finished art projects. She had liked to perform in the school musicals. Singing, dancing, and acting all at once. Three jobs in one shot.

Ray Palmer had earned three PhDs simultaneously. Enough freaking said.

Thea was almost as hyperactive as her older brother. Earning a degree in business and running a successful nightclub weren't easy things to double up on. Throw in a scheming father and some superhero time punch duties and you suddenly had an extremely full life.

Captain Lance had no way of knowing what John Diggle had been like in his early ears but from what he's seen recently the man is a hell of a task master. He had had a marriage in the middle of a warzone. Anyone who could pull that off (however briefly) got serious props from Lance. He hadn't been able to maintain a marriage in the relative safety of Starling City. These days the man was juggling being a father, a husband, fighting crime, and a full time job.

When any of those people ever had time to sleep was completely and utterly beyond Quentin Lance. Of course, lately Lance hadn't exactly had time to sleep either.

Now everyone was busier than ever. Using what Lance considered to be slightly sketchy assets from the League of Assassins Oliver had bought back a sizeable share of Queen Consolidated. Palmer had happily agreed to a business partnership. From what Lance had heard, both men had agreed on one thing off the bat; Felicity Smoak maintained the ownership that Palmer had set up (without telling her).

Diggle had been hired immediately as the head of security and all military projects. His contacts with old military friends and A.R.G.U.S made him perfect for the job. His wife Lyla served as an independent consultant.

The business partnership between Oliver, Felicity and Ray seemed to work on an exceptionally high level. Felicity held control over everything even vaguely relating to the applied sciences division and half of the tech work while Ray took the other half. Palmer also dealt with the investors. Oliver handled foreign policy and brought all of the contacts his family name brought with it.

Between Palmer's open smarts and honest disposition, Oliver's new found seriousness and charm, and Felicity's babbling light the three of them managed to find investors. Not only find, but hold and keep. Combining all of those abilities with rather expansive skill sets meant that even someone like Lance could tell that they were kicking the collective asses of the corporate world. Billionaire status was almost definitely in the works for all of them, even with the sizeable charitable donations they made both privately and publicly.

Besides, with three of them sharing control someone was generally available to get the high points from board meetings while the other two kept the city safe from criminals in the less legal way. The less legal way that Lance would swear up and down he knew nothing about in front of any form of legal or official questioning. Of course he would be lying through his teeth, but he figured that was where being friends with two hacking geniuses and having a daughter who was in line to be the next D.A came in handy.

Lance had come by for a lunch meeting. At least, that was what the appointment Lance had made with the company secretary said in the official system. He was actually there to drop off a file with Team Arrow on the latest money laundering scheme through another major corporation opening up in Starling. It was some up and coming Russian with some mob connections. There wasn't a good way to put that on the appointment book.

He was directed to the top floor and after a quick glance around managed to locate a flash of blonde hair and bright pink fabric that he followed to Felicity. She was swirling around in her computer chair talking in to a Bluetooth. That would have been all completely normal had she not been switching between three different extra large high tech computer monitors and her customized tablet.

Her fingers flew across every key in a flurry of brightly painted nails swiping and tapping at the various screens and keyboards. She spotted Lance and greeted him with a bright smile and a small wave. "Hey Laurel," she said. "I just sent you the details on that diplomat. He's definitely in the drug dealing business. Also has a very nice off shore illegal nest egg. Feel free to flip and fry."

She tipped her head sideways and let her fingers pause on the keys. "Your Dad just walked in. I'll call you later with the rest of the details."

Laurel said something and Felicity nodded. "Definitely. I will so need stress relief after this week of board meetings is over. You, me, and Thea should definitely do a movie night. You bring the ice cream. See you in a bit." She hung up and turned to Lance, "Laurel says hi and to call her for lunch sometime this week."

Lance nodded, "thanks for the message. I really just came to drop this off." He extracted the file from his jacket pocket and dropped it on her desk. "Petkya Volkov. Trying to set up a money laundering dummy corporation."

The elevator let out a ding and Oliver stepped out. He was speaking in a long, complicated string of rapid fire Arabic. Apparently a month of near total immersion was really all the time Oliver needed to learn one of the most complicated languages in the world.

"I have another call coming," he said, switching abruptly back to English. "Keep me posted." Then he tapped the side of the Bluetooth to change calls and began speaking again in what Lance recognized from a brief family vacation to Berlin as German. ""Danke, dass Sie mich so schnell zurück gerufen haben. Ich weiß dass es bei Ihnen später ist durch die Zeitverschiebung. Tut mir leid dass Sie dadurch die Nacht aufbleiben müssen. Aber ich brauche Sie für die Überprüfung der letzten Buchhaltungszahlen."

He paused for a moment, listening to the person on the other end of the call before smiling. His shoulders relaxed as he sighed. "Danke und entschuldigen Sie noch einmal die Störung. Ich hoffe in Zukunft enger mit Ihnen zusammenarbeiten zu können. Auf Wiederhören."  
He sighed and rolled his shoulders before groaning as his earpiece beeped again. "Hello Mr. Coldo. The Berlin quarterlies are on their way to you as we speak. Excellent."

Oliver had just hung up again and looked like he was about to speak when the phone rang again. He allowed the call and his face cleared slightly. "Shì de zhè shì Mr. Queen de jiǎng. Yīgè bā diǎn zhōng yùyuē jiāng gōngzuò wánměi. Shì de, tā shì liǎng gè dǎng. Xièxiè nǐ, zàijiàn." This time when he hung up he paused for a moment as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then he let out a deep breath. "Okay we're good."

He leaned down and gave Felicity a quick kiss. "Our reservations at that new Chinese place you wanted to try are good for eight o'clock tonight," he informed her.

Felicity beamed up at him. "That was what that last call was about?"

Oliver smiled and twisted his fingers through hers. "Knowing Chinese has to be good for something besides dealing with the Triad. It turns out it gets you in good with the owner of Chinese restaurants."

Lance had to pause and shake his head. Queen and Smoak had gone from discussing dinner reservations to discussing dealings with the most dangerous section of the Chinese mob. Zero to sixty got nowhere close to describing those two. Zero to sixty thousand was closer.

"I could have hacked their computer and gotten us in too you know," Felicity commented.

Oliver smiled. "I know. I just thought I'd try doing something the legal way, just to shake things up." He looked up at the detective as he leaned back against Felicity's desk. "Detective Lance. What can we do for you?"

"More like what you can do for everyone kid," Lance corrected. He gestured to the file on Felicity's desk. "Petkya Volkov. Some Russian low life with mob connections. He's trying to set up a dummy company to launder money. I assume you have someone you can call about that?"

Oliver nodded. "I might know someone." He looked down at Felicity. "Can you dig up everything you can find on Volkov? If I can't get the Bratva to go after him then Lance could use something to bring to Laurel over at the District Attorney's office."

"You talk like I'm someone who didn't start up a program to search every known database for this guy the second the file landed on my desk," Felicity said with a serene smile.

Queen leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Sorry. Next time we need personal information on a member of the Russian Mafia remind me of this moment and I won't say a word."

"Uh huh," Felicity said in a manner that clearly said she was basically calling him out on shameless flattery she held up Oliver's phone. "Now go over in the corner and call your sketchy friends in the Russian mob."

Lance watched with quirked eyebrows as Oliver Queen, one of the most dangerous men in the world moved over to the corner wit his phone like a chastised child, leaving his Bluetooth on Felicity's desk top. "Privet Anatoly," he said, transferring over to Russian without even blinking. He put the phone on speaker and a heavily accented Russian voice came over the wiring.

"Oliver my favorite American," Anatoly said. "It has been a long while since last we talked. It was when you were in Moscow yes?"

"I know it's been a while," Oliver replied. "Given what happened with Alexi I wasn't entirely sure calling you was wise."

A rush of static came over the phone as the man on the other end side. "Yes that was unfortunate. Alexi may have been rather... over enthusiastic but we believed him to be a good Bratva brother. Perhaps you and me should have a glass of vodka and discuss your position?"

"Da muy brat," Oliver said, transferring easily back in to Russian. "We should arrange a time the next time you're in Starling."

Anatoly made a grunting noise in the affirmative. "But I think you did not call me for old pleasantries. What can I do for you kapitan?"

"There seems to be a new corporate player in town." Lance noted the changes in mannerism Queen now. He had transferred over to a colder sense of business mixed with the humbleness of a man asking for a favor from friend. It was artfully done really. "Petkya Volkov. He's trying to establish a money laundering front and I can't afford to have him anywhere near my family business. I need to know he won't make a mess I have to clean up myself."

"Volkov," Anatoly mused. "He is a brash young man. We will have him immediately recalled to Moscow. I believe he may be attempting to prove his worth by cleaning money for the Bratva. It will be impressed upon him that interfering with the business of a Kapitan is not the way to do this. I would tell you to just kill him but his mother is a friend of my cousins."

Lance flinched. It was a cold shock to listen to a man so calmly discuss the death of another person. He noticed Oliver's Jaw clench but when he spoke his voice was even. "YA tsenyu pol'zu Anatoly," Oliver said. "Is there anything you require of me?" Quentin stiffened. He knew about this part of the Bratva enough to know that a favor for a favor could often be dark but was generally typical.

Anatoly however appeared to be waving it this time. "Net pol'zu. Just make sure you keep time for that drink the next time I am in town. You and your associate my second favorite American. He may bring his wife if she is not too busy looking after the scores of children I hope they may have at home. That pretty little blonde one you kept mostly out of the way in Moscow could come to. YA khotel by, chtoby udovletvorit' lyubyye zhenshchiny v Bratva kapitan."

Oliver's eyes flicked to Felicity briefly. "I look forward to our reunion Anatoly. Proshtnost." With that he hung up. and looked at Felicity. "Anatoly says he'll take care of it. He wants to have dinner with all of us."

"I heard," Felicity said. "I'm still going to do some digging though. If this guy comes back it'll be good to have something on him."

Lance saw Queen nod and roll his neck to try to ease tension. "Well," he said. "I don't want to take up more time. Anyone who changed languages that many time in one conversation and is on four computers at once seems pretty busy. I just wanted to drop that off."

"It was nice talking to you Captain," Oliver said. "I know you're not comfortable with all of... this. But It's a relief to be on good terms.

Goosebumps ran up and down Lance's spine hearing Oliver utter the title. He could stomach a lot, but he wasn't sure the Russian mob was on that list. Never the less he nodded an acknowledgement and made his way out.

He paused in the doorway as he heard Felicity ask in a low voice, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Oliver responded. "Just changing languages all the time gives me a major headache. I keep thinking I'll start talking to the German investors in Arabic and have a million things to try to explain. As far as the world knows Oliver Queen was an idiot who couldn't even pass high school Spanish."

"The third person thing is still creepy," Lance heard Felicity inform him. "And you'll be fine. You are doing so well with all of this business stuff." Her voice was soft and Lance caught the image in the reflection in the window. She was standing now so that she was at an equal height with Oliver sitting and had her hands resting on his shoulders. "I'm proud of you."

Oliver leaned forward and kissed her for a long moment. "Thank you," he said in a voice so quiet Lance almost didn't catch it. "That means a lot." He pulled her in for a hug and the two just stood for a moment.

Lance decided that he had seen enough and made his way promptly towards the elevator.

The Russian Mob, a Chinese restaurant owner, a German business front, and a League of Arabic killers all mixing together. That was one hell of a multi-lingual conference call.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the corrected version of this chapter. Kiwi1981over at FanFiction.net was super awesome and corrected the German in this chapter. All credit for the correct use of the language goes to her. Anyway, thank you all so much for sticking with this story! I'll be incredibly busy over the next week so this will be the last chapter for a little while. Comments and Kudos are much loved! xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxxo


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